Wealth and Nothing Else
by Oblivion-Time
Summary: Maka and Soul has been dating for a while and now it's time to meet Soul's side of the family on the other side of the country. When economy is changed to first class her boyfriend reveals to be wealthy beyond her imagination and his family is no less. It's a struggle between acceptance and rejection and Soul has to choose what is more important, his family or the love of his life.
1. Wealth Runs in His Veins

Wow... this story has been a struggle to slam out, but it's out! School and personal things has been devouring my time and I've been incredibly lucky to have such a patient partner as Red. I want to thank my artist Red (check out his art!) and Resbang mods who continuously keep putting together this event! I hope you enjoy this very short story of mine!

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**Wealth and Nothing Else**

Chapter 1

_Wealth Runs in His Veins_

Peaceful Christmas music rung within Spirit's modest home and he hummed along to the sweet tunes from within the kitchen where he prepared his special hot holiday cocoa. In the living room the modest fake Christmas tree stood in the corner and decorated with red and silver ornaments, glitter and a large beautiful star at the top. Underneath the tree was a little pile of Christmas presents. On the couch Soul had his arm around Maka's shoulders and her head rested against his shoulder.

"Do you want marshmallows on your cocoa?" Spirit yelled from within the kitchen.

"Of course we do!" Maka yelled back.

"Hold on! What kinds of marshmallows are they?" Soul pitched in.

Maka raised her eyebrow as she pulled away from his shoulder. "What other marshmallows are there?"

Soul grinned and winked. "The good ones." Soul unwrapped his arm and rose on his feet. "I'll go and check out what they are."

"You're silly, but okay."

Soul's fingers brushed her shoulder as he rounded the couch and headed inside of the kitchen. Spirit stood in front of the stove, whisking the chocolate. He turned off the stove and he poured the liquid inside of the three cups.

"You still think I'll spit in your drink?" Spirit asked. "If so, I can assure you your drink is spit and laxative free."

Soul didn't want to think about last Christmas he shared with Maka and Spirit. It was Maka and Soul's first Christmas together as a couple and they chose to celebrate it with her father, the only family she has. He was aware from their college days of how crazy her father could get and all the horrible stuff he did to her previous boyfriends, so when it was time for him to receive the treatment, he admittedly nervous. It hadn't been the first time he had met Spirit during Christmas last year, but Spirit had still put laxatives in his food and spat in his cocoa. He was crazy, but he won him over soon enough. Spirit saw the good in him and the good he brought to his relationship with Maka, and most importantly, Spirit saw how happy he made Maka.

He would go over that process time and time again just to be with Maka. Now when he had won over Spirit, he wasn't that bad of a guy. In fact, he was a good person to have on his side because… well, he did go the extra mile for his family.

"Yeah, I'm not worried." Soul waved it away as he leaned his back against the counter.

"Maybe I should add something extra in yours to keep you on your toes," Spirit snickered as he returned the pot with the leftover cocoa on the stove.

Soul smirked and let out a snort. "Try old man, you aren't scaring anyone."

Spirit let out a dry laughter as he sprayed canned whipped cream on top of their cocoa. "That's why I like you far better than any of the punks Maka brought home." Spirit opened the bag of marshmallows and sprinkled some over a cup of cocoa. "So how was it, do you want some marshmallows or not?"

"Yeah about that," Soul began as he shoved his hand inside of his pocket. "There is something I want to ask you about." He pulled up a dark wooden box and placed it on the counter.

Spirit raised his eyebrow and he gestured toward the box. "Are you…?"

Soul nodded. "I know you are close to Maka and you mean a whole lot to her, so I'm asking for your approval of our relationship."

Spirit grinned and huffed. "I thought an octopushead like you could figure it out that I have already approved of your relationship."

"I know. I personally couldn't care less if you gave your approval or not because I love her with all of my heart and I want to be with her, but I know Maka cares about you." Soul grabbed the box and pocketed it again. "It would mean a lot if you gave us your blessing to marry."

"Consider it done. If my daughter wants to marry you, I'm not going to stand in your way." Spirit raised a warning finger toward him. "But if you hurt her, you know you're in for a hell of a lot more suffering than her other boyfriends."

Soul chuckled. There was the overprotective father of hers he had gotten to know. "You've nothing to worry about."

"I take it you will ask her at your stay with your parents?"

"Yeah," Soul confessed.

Since they celebrated last Christmas with Spirit, it was time for Soul to introduce his girlfriend of one year to his family and relatives. He had only talked about Maka to his parents, but he hadn't actually introduced her to them, mainly because they lived across the country, but there were more reasons. Maka had the pleasure to meeting his brother Wes when he was in town and they had gotten along well, Wes had even praised him for finding such a catch like Maka.

"Just promise me the moment you've put the finger on her finger, I'll be the first one to know."

"Of course."

"Good." Spirit raised the bag of marshmallows. "So you want any or what?"

"Sure." He shrugged his shoulders.

After Spirit had finished sprinkling the marshmallows on top of the whipped cream, he torched the marshmallows to a golden brown before he shredded some chocolate on top of it. Soul grabbed two mugs and both of them returned to the living room.

Soul handed her cup of hot cocoa and he took his seat beside her. "Did you have trouble choosing or what?" Maka asked.

"Something along those lines." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gently he bumped his mug into her. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." They both sipped on their drinks. As he lowered his cup, Maka licked the whipped cream from her upper lip. "You got something there." Maka reached out toward him and she brushed his moustache made out of whipped cream from his lip and licked it from her finger.

Spirit cleared his throat and Maka rolled her eyes at her father. "Come on, it's Christmas!"

"If I wanted you to kiss in my house, I would've put up a mistletoe." Spirit put his cup of cocoa on the coffee table and he headed over to the Christmas tree. He kneeled in front of two sets of presents and went over to the two love birds "Merry Christmas you two."

"Thank you papa," she grabbed her gift and immediately she started to rip at the wrapping while Soul carefully peeled at the tape away and unfolded the gift. A wide smile spread on her face when she found a book was inside, not just any book, the particular book she had asked her father to get for her. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but she was still thrilled to have the book in her possession and it would be a great read on the flight to New York City.

"I hope it was the book you wanted," Spirit asked.

"Yes it is. Thank you papa."

Soul had finished wrapping his own gift and he hadn't been expected getting a gift from Spirit, but he had. In his lap was a classic black silk tie. It was a safe card, but he appreciated the gift anyway.

"I thought you needed a proper tie," Spirit commented before he took a sip of his cocoa.

Soul didn't know how to take the compliment, but he chose to let it slide. "Yeah, thanks. It's great." He placed the tie aside and he went over to collect the three last presents. He handed the bigger one to Maka who gave it to Spirit.

"This is from both of us."

"That's lovely." Like father and daughter, he ripped open the wrapper and it exposed the large box of brandy chocolates they had bought for him. "I'll be snacking on these throughout the holidays," he snickered as he was pleased with his gift.

"Don't be like that," Maka pouted. "Next Christmas we will be celebrating with you.

"And the one after that you're more than welcome to come and celebrate with us and my family," Soul offered.

"Yes, exactly. It would be nice to have our families celebrating together."

"Sounds like you've already planned it out."

Maka turned to Soul and smiled wide. "It is a very good idea." Maka held out her gift toward him. "And here is another thing that is a good idea."

Soul raised his eyebrow and he accepted the gift. It was wrapped with care and the box was flat, but wide and tall. He had a hunch of what it could be, but he did not say anything. He opened up the package and folded the wrapper neatly before he placed it on the floor to Maka's annoyance. Her feet started impatiently bounce as he opened up the lid of the black carton box. Inside was a red dress shirt.

"It will fit nicely with the black tie," Maka spoke.

"Yeah it will." He smiled gently toward her and he placed his hand on her thigh. "Thanks. I'll wear it tomorrow to lunch."

She entwined her hand with his and gave it a squeeze. "You like it?"

"I do." He pulled his hand from hers and he handed the last gift to her. "If you don't like it I could return it."

"I'm sure it will be great." Maka tore open the rapping and found an elegant black box in her hand. She opened up the lid and she gasped loudly. "Oh my word!" Inside of the box was a silver necklace with a beautiful silver chain and in it hung what appeared to be a diamond. "This must've gone over the gift budget!"

"Nah. I know the guy who sold it to me and he cut me a good deal."

"But it looks so expensive!" She held up the necklace and admired the stone glistering in the light. "And it looks so _real_."

"I just thought it would look good on you. You know, for special occasions since your jewellery collection is quite limited."

"I certainly will wear it." She placed the necklace back in the box and closed the lid. "Thank you so much. It is lovely and I love it."

"I'm just glad you liked it." He placed his hand over hers on the box.

He decided later would be a good time to break the truth to her.

They kept on drinking their cocoa, conversing and enjoying each other's company until it was time for them to get to the airport. They packed their gifts in their bags and the taxi had arrived outside of Spirit's home. It was time for them to say goodbye to Spirit.

Maka hugged her father tightly. "Merry Christmas."

"And a happy New Year," Spirit continued. They pulled away from each other and Spirit rested his hands on her shoulder. "Call me once you've arrived."

"I will." Maka pulled away from her father and joined by Soul's side where he held their luggage in his hands.

"And remember," Spirit said as he made a phone gesture with his hand against his ear. "Call me."

He nodded as Maka rolled her eyes. "Yes papa, I heard it the first time."

They bid Spirit goodbye and they headed to the taxi. Soul loaded the trunk with their bags and he slid into the back seat where Maka was buckling her seatbelt. The engine started and the taxi started to roll. Maka waved goodbye to her father who stood and waved toward them by the front door. Maka then turned toward Soul and grabbed his hand.

"Are you nervous?" Soul asked, stoking his thumb over her smooth back hand.

"I just hope they will like me."

"They will. You are hard not to love."

Maka snorted and she squeezed his hand. "Yes, but won't they think it's weird how we have been together for over a year and it's not until now I'm meeting them?"

"Nah. My folks aren't interested in meeting all the girls passing by. They want to meet the one and you certainly are that person to me."

A wide smile spread on Maka's lips. She brought their entwined hands up to her lips and kissed his knuckles. "You are cute."

The taxi took them to the airport. Soul's heart hammered in his chest as the airport grew closer and closer. He was aware Maka knew he was nervous, but she didn't say anything. The only thing she did was squeeze his hand and offer her one of her pretty smiles. The control tower came into view and slowly the taxi came to a stop. Maka opened the door and stepped out. He scooted over to her side and stepped out of the car.

Just like many times before when he would travel to visit his parents, two flying custodians approached him and greeted him.

"Mr. Evans nice to meet you." The female flying custodian waved her arm graciously and the male custodian approached them. "Welcome to first class. My colleague will take care of your luggage."

"Wait hold on," Maka's eyes fluttered in confusion as her gaze went between the flying custodian and Soul. "We're flying economy. Not first class— and woah woah woah! That's _our luggage!_"

"Relax," Soul grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers together. "They'll take care of our luggage."

His reply only seemed to puzzle her more as her whole face shook in shock.

"Allow me to show you to your aircraft," the female custodian gestured inside of the airport.

Maka's eyes darted back to the trunk of the cab where the male flying custodian was unloading their luggage. Soul wrapped his arm around her waist and encouragingly pulled at her forward. "Relax. Just follow my lead."

He knew better than to tell Maka what to do and he earned an accusatory stare from her. "Once we are in our seats, you have some explaining to do," she murmured for only his ears to hear.

He simply accepted it as they followed the flying custodian. She took them through a VIP check-in where the term line didn't exist. They were escorted out and found their aircraft parked and ready to board. Maka's mouth hung ajar at the sight of the smaller aircraft, he could only smile as he witnessed her amazed expression as they climbed up the stairs and boarded the plane.

Once they entered the craft more flying custodians greeted them and offered them a flute of champagne. Soul politely accepted a glass while Maka turned it down. They went deeper inside of the aircraft and the custodian stopped by a row with two seats.

"Here are your seats. If you want more champagne or if there is anything else you want, don't hesitate to call us."

"Yeah, thanks." Soul ushered Maka inside and she threw him a confused look as she hoped inside. Soul threw himself down on the large comfortable seat beside the aisle.

"Soul…" Maka whispered. "What is all of this?"

"It's first class."

"I know it is but… _why?_ Why did you waste all your money on _this_?"

"I didn't waste any money," he said and took a sip on his champagne. "Are you sure you don't want any champagne? It's really good and I know you're a sore spot for a good champagne."

He could visibly see how she longingly stared at the flute of champagne in his hand. She braced herself and crossed her arms over her chest as she puffed it out. "No. I'm fine thank you. I don't want to pay anything extra."

"It's complimentary." He held out the champagne to her. "You know you can take mine if you want."

She hesitated, but she couldn't resist. "Oh fine." She dived for his flute and took a sip. A satisfied moan left her mouth and she closed her eyes. "It's really good," she spoke as she took a seat beside him.

"I told you it was."

"Don't think I have forgotten about this, mister." She took another sip before she placed her glass aside on a smooth surface. "We're going to talk about this as soon as we are up in the air."

"Why wait when we can talk now?" He pressed a button on his armrest and he didn't know where he was supposed to look, at the doors beside him slowly sliding shut or Maka's amazed face because _they had a suite!_

"Oh my word…"

"If I could impress you that easily I should've opened my wallet more often."

Maka's eyes fluttered as her attention turned back to him. "About that… explain this _now_."

Soul shrugged his shoulders as he entwined his hands behind his head. "You know… we are going to visit my parents and they bought us the tickets."

"You never really talked about your family. Are they like… rich?"

"They live a comfortable life."

Maka huffed. "Why is that every rich and pretentious wealthy person's reply all the time." She leaned toward him in her seat. "So… you're rich too?"

"My parents are rich and… wealth runs in the family."

"So you are rich too." Maka let out an incredulous laughter. "All this time you complained about more expensive sheets or going to the movies… all this time you actually had a thick wallet and you could've _bought_ the cinema!"

"I might've," he slowly admitted.

"Hold on… I'm just trying to wrap my head around this." She buried her hand in her face, her hair draped around her face.

Soul inhaled deeply as he sat forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. He knew it was a heavy bomb he dropped on Maka and the last thing he wanted was for it to ruin what they had. "Look, I know I should've told you earlier about this, but I _liked_ living like you and all the others do. You actually _see_ the worth and value in stuff and it's actually nice to live differently."

She pulled away from her hands and looked into his eyes. "But _why_ on earth did you keep it a secret for this long?" Maka let out a short laugh. "I have known you since college days… we've been together for soon two years!"

"I know, it's a horrible long time to keep a secret like this from you but…" he sighed. "I didn't want people to look at me like Soul _Evans._ I haven't had people looking at me and treating me for _me. _It has been nice and… I didn't want that to change, you know."

"I know you. Why on earth would you keep that away from me for so long?"

"Because I found enjoyment in our situation." A small smile spread on his face as he recalled a found memory. "In college when you kept track of your money, knowing exactly the amount on your account and living a cost-efficient lifestyle… it was refreshing."

"You think it was fun watching me stress over my money?" Her sentence dripping with distaste as she crossed her arms.

"No, not like that. I meant your views on what you needed to invest. You saw a worth in things I never witnessed before and it was refreshing." He reached out to her and gently touched her knee, letting his thumb comfortingly caress her knee cap. "I did not enjoy watching you stress over bills and keeping your scholarship and grades up. Those were the moments I wanted to tell you and help you out."

Maka's eyes fluttered shut and her hand laid above his. "What I don't understand is why didn't you tell med earlier in our relationship? Why wait until the very last minute when we're _on a plane?_"

"I didn't know how to bring it up now when we have known each other for so long. I just… wanted to show you instead of telling you."

Maka snorted and a small smile played on her lips. "You certainly showed me." She squeezed her his hand. "This is a lot to take in… but this doesn't change anything. You're still _you_ and I will still love you the same."

A wide smile spread on his face and he held her hand in both of his, squeezing it before he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "You aren't mad?"

"Not mad. I'm just disappointed that you didn't feel comfortable enough to tell me about this earlier. You know I don't love you for your money or material things, but… a secret like _this _and you kept it for this long."

"I know and I promise you this is the only thing I have kept from you. No more skeletons in the closet."

A pleased smile spread on her lips. "Good." She leaned forward and she kissed him gingerly. She pulled away and she entwined her fingers with him. "Now when you have told me all of that, I would love to hear more about your family."

"Of course."

Throughout the flight Soul answered all of Maka's questions of where did he keep all the extra money she couldn't see on his bank account when they were paying their shared bills to how his family were like.

His family was… rich. Money and success ran through their veins. His mother was a famous attorney who invested a lot of her money in real estate, finance and of course she had an eye for fashion. His father on the other hand was the owner of large companies, rich enough that he could simply relax, lean back and let everybody do all the work for him as the millions kept on flooding his bank account. His brother was no different than his father, he was CEO of various starter up companies and owner of various apartment buildings. All of his family were insanely rich and powerful.

His family… they weren't even new money. They didn't stumble over a large fortune and used it smartly. No, generation to generation to generation they had been wealthy and their wealth only grew. The Evans name was a hallmark name in New York. All from the hundreds upon hundreds of apartment buildings they own to the success in in the finance market and the legal area to architect and fashion. They were the _real_ Evans family. They are the reason the Evans surname boomed.

Soul was the most different from his family. He owned one business in New York City, owned sixteen apartment buildings (Maka almost spat out her champagne when she heard it) and he was the owner of a music company. Maka knew he studied music at university and she thought the very music company he owned, she had believed he was simply a producer at it, not the person who owned it and ran it.

Soul was far richer than she had thought he was. Soul was aware of the fact he didn't look like a rich man. He would rather walk around in jeans and a leather jacket than a suit and more days than not he didn't brush his hair.

Now, Maka was a whole lot more nervous about meeting Soul's parents. She had said she didn't care about his wealth… but she did care about his family. Now when she knew exactly _how_ insanely rich her boyfriend and his family was, she did see him in a different light. Before he had seemed so humble and down to earth and… he still was those qualities. She still loved him the same but there was a different glow about him as he drank his glass of scotch the custodian had served him. There was a glow of _power_ surrounding him. The elegance of how he drank his drink and… before she thought he ate his pizza like a slob, but witnessing him eating the fancy seafood dish, there was something different. It was the elegance of being raised in the upper class. There was a shift in his manner. Once he was in the setting of luxury, his posture changed and he did no longer slouch like he used to. His manners he must've learned from when he was a child had bubbled to the surface and… he appeared different.

She was really nervous about meeting his family. Meeting the most influential and powerful people in New York City. What would they think about her? She was proud of her master degree in economy. She was proud of the fact she was teaching at the university and saving money for the day she would start up her own finance consultant firm. All of this time… she simply could've _asked_ Soul to invest in her and they could co-own her finance consultant firm.

She was worried about the people she would face. At the beginning she was nervous about meeting his family, now she was downright terrified.

The aircraft landed and she almost didn't want to leave the aircraft. She was lucky the alcohol still buzzed her mind and gave her some courage to maintain her fear sealed inside as she exited the aircraft on shaky legs. It was as if they were royalty. Right outside of the aircraft even though it was in the middle of the night in New York City, an elegant black car stood fifty yards away. The chauffeur greeted Soul and opened up the door to them. They slid into the backseat and in her emotional haywire, she managed to question about their luggage and Soul dismissingly said the driver would handle it.

Before they knew it the car drove up in front of a hotel. She was expecting Soul to open the door, but he waited for the chauffeur to walk around to his side and open it for him. Both of them slid out of the car and Soul grabbed her hand.

"Why are we staying at a hotel?" Maka asked.

"They are renovating the guest bedrooms. We're more comfortable staying at the penthouse suite."

She didn't know what she was supposed to focus at, the fact they weren't going to stay at Soul's family's home or the fact she was going to stay at a penthouse suite!

She followed Soul inside of the hotel. The marble floor almost shone with its pride and cleanliness. She bet she could spill a plate of spaghetti on the ground and she would still be able to eat it. In the lobby were golden and black furniture fit for an interior magazine. She knew she wouldn't be able to even afford a single bedroom in this hotel. Let alone the penthouse suite.

They didn't have to check in. The woman with the perfectly brushed hair without a hair strand in the wrong place simply had to look at them before she started working. By the time they had approached the front desk, the receptionist had already prepared their keys.

Not only did they have the penthouse suite, they had their own private elevator. The driver had caught up with them with both of their luggage. Soul thanked him and dismissed him. They took the elevator up and as soon as the door opened up, she witnessed for the first time how a penthouse suite looked like.

It was beyond her imagination. Far bigger than she thought it would be. The interior was open and modern with a mix of lavender, silver and white. There were a lounge room with perfectly puffed up white furry pillows. The ceiling was tall and from it hung a chandelier.

She stepped out from the elevator and there was so much _room_. Excitement started to overtake her and she explored the penthouse. There was a bar and a full functioning kitchen although she doubted none of the guests actually used it. There was a dining table and to the master bedroom were two sliding doors. Connecting to the master bedroom was a large walk-in closet with mirrors and safes. On the other side of the master bedroom was the large bathroom with marble floor and a shower with _two_ shower heads. The bathroom even had chairs inside. It was more of a luxurious relaxation spa than a bathroom.

She stepped closer to the bed. Her fingertips ran over the smooth cotton sheets. The kind of sheets she had only dreamt to sleep in, and now she would have the opportunity to sleep in for a week.

She inhaled shakily when Soul stepped behind her and his arms snaked around her waist. A pattern she knew far too well and revealed what was on his mind. His lips caressed the sensitive skin over her neck.

"You're tense," he asked.

"You know why," she whispered.

He pulled away slightly and his hands caressed her waist as he rounded her, taking a seat and the fluffy covers dimmed under his weight. "Please tell me. Whatever you want to know, I will answer."

Gently he pulled Maka to take a seat on the bed beside him. "It's still all so new."

"But I'm not. My money or my family's wealth won't change anything between us."

"I know." She cupped his face and her thumb ran over his cheekbone. "Believe me, I know."

He laid his hand above hers and kissed the sensitive skin of her wrist. "If you need some time to take all of this in, I'm okay with it. We could meet my parents a day or two later and we could have the day all to ourselves."

A smile spread on her lips and she leaned forward, resting her face in the crook of his neck. "No. I _want_ to meet you family."

"But there is no rush."

"I know, but we will only be here for a few days and I truly am fine with meeting your family tomorrow."

"Okay, good." He rested his head against her scalp, burying his nose in her blonde locks. He released her hand and his arms snaked around her waist. "It's three in the morning but… I'm not really tired and we could do something to change that."

She snorted and she pulled away in favour of looking into his playful red eyes. "Oh really? I know exactly what I would do."

"And what is that?"

A smirk grew on her face as she gently pushed Soul backward until the covers dipped under his back. She climbed on his lap and slowly she pushed his shirt up, revealing her favourite trail. "Do I really have to say?"

"It's more fun hearing it," he grinned back as his hands rested on her thighs.

"You know exactly what I will do." She leaned forward, hands climbing ups his chest and his shirt rode higher and higher. Her lips feathered over his. "You."


	2. The Cost of Approval

Chapter 2

_The Cost of Approval_

The usual sweet melody from Soul's phone blared annoyingly in the hotel room. It had awoken from their slumber and Maka had cracked her eyes open to find the sun was already up and bathing the master bedroom in its glory. Soul still lay in the bed and eyes shut and his hand rested on her waist. She was about to get out of the bed and grab Soul's phone, but before she could escape his grasp, he groaned in disapproval.

"Noooooo," he purred as he scooted closer to her, arms wrapping around her and his face nuzzling in her hair. "Let it ring."

"It is the third time it's ringing. It has to be important."

"Nah, just mom being a dramaqueen. I told her we are coming over by lunch, not breakfast."

"You should still answer it." Gently she untangled herself from Soul's tentacle-like arms as he tried to hold onto her. He huffed in dismay and complained about the cool air. Their clothes were scattered all over the room and she found Soul's jacket on the floor far away from the bed. She pulled out his phone and he was indeed right, on the caller ID it said "mom". She returned back to bed and crawled into it, handing Soul the phone as she snuggled close to Soul's warm naked body.

Soul grunted in annoyance and answered the call, but to Maka's surprise he left it on speaker. "Mom… I told you we're coming for lunch."

"But you have to be here now! It is Christmas, my dear," Mrs. Evans's high pitched voice came from the speaker. Even though she and Soul had been together for soon two years, she had never heard Mrs. Evans's voice. When she thought of Mrs. Evans's voice, she had expected it to hold more power and stead as a rock, but it reminded her more of a young woman eager to watch her favourite band live. Her voice was quite the opposite than she expected.

Soul massaged the bridge of his nose. "I told you we were going to arrive in the middle of the night. We are tired and we aren't even close to ready."

"I told you you should've taken an earlier flight here. All your cousins, uncles and aunts are already here. We're all waiting for you to arrive."

"It's not a big deal that we arrive late. Just get on with the celebrations and we will arrive when we arrive."

"But the family isn't complete without you. It was such a long time ago since I saw you and it's even longer since your relatives last saw you."

"And they can wait a couple of more hours. Now Maka and I are going to go back to sleep and we will arrive after lunch. Bye." Without hearing Mrs. Evans's reply, Soul ended the call and tossed the phone away.

"You shouldn't have ended the call like that," she said as Soul snuggled back to her.

"She's tough. She can handle it." He closed his eyes as a kind smile spread on his lips. "Besides, at this moment I would rather be with you."

"You certainly are a flirter," she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I just care about you." He pulled away slightly and he opened his eyes. "Now when you have slept on it, how does it feel?"

"Feel what?"

"About all of this. How do you feel about me and my wealth and my family?"

"It was a shock of course, but just like I said before, it doesn't change how I feel about you. It kind of explains your behaviour."

He raised his eyebrow. "What behaviour?"

"Like the time we went out for dinner on our first anniversary and you brought me to that expensive restaurant. You just… you didn't eat like your usual self and you simply knew what forks and knives and spoons to use. You just knew a whole lot more and I couldn't explain it."

Soul chuckled. "I guess the talk about dessert wine exposed me, huh?"

"Yes it did. For a guy who eats fast food like a slob it really surprised me how much knowledge you had about dessert wine."

"But I did choose a good dessert wine _and_ I got laid."

She swatted his shoulder playfully. "Oh please, like getting laid was _only_ your goal. You couldn't tear your eyes from me."

"That black dress looked stunning on you. I hope you brought it with you."

"I might have," she purred and she earned a wide toothy grin.

"I'm looking forward to see it on you again." She started to lean forward for a kiss when she placed two of her fingers on his lips to stop him.

"But is it appropriate for me to wear it?" she began, shifting the flirtatious mood immediately. "I mean, I don't know what kind of dress codes your family has or what social rules there are. What if I will make a bad impression if I wear it? The last thing I want is your family to perceive me as a gold-digger."

Soul pulled her hand from his mouth and entwined their fingers. "You can wear it. In fact, I _want_ you to wear it. It looks good on you and my family would be fools not to see the good in you."

Maka raised her eyebrow questioningly. "I wasn't born yesterday. I've seen how doctors and people with power and influence can act all snobby. How would your entire family be different?"

A strained smile spread on his face. "Okay they are snobby and will judge you, but just give them time. They will accept you eventually."

"Eventually? How long is even that?"

Soul shrugged his shoulders.

"Hold on, how long did it take for your previous girlfriends to be accepted by them?"

"First, you know I barely introduced any of those girls to my parents. In fact, I kept it quiet just like I did to you. Secondly my parents care about me and when they see how happy we are together they will come around."

Maka groaned and she flopped her head down in her pillow. "They are going to hate me."

"Not hate you. Just… be on their guard."

"But what will I do? I just want them to like me."

"And they will." Soul scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. "It will just take a little time. I want them to like you just as much as you do. You know I'll be on your side and manage my family."

"You are?"

He nodded as he brushed a piece of her tangled hair out of her face. "Of course I will. They are my family and it's my responsibility to manage them. All I'm asking is for you to be your lovely self and let me handle my family."

A smile played on her lips and her hand snaked up his toned pecs and around his neck, finding the hairs at his nape to entangle her fingers in. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. That's what partners do for each other."

"I'm grateful still."

He chuckled as he petted her hair. "You know all you have to do is tell me. If anything they do or says bothers you, it can be anything really, just tell me and I will do something about it."

"Then I have a question."

"I'm all ears."

"Can you tell me more about your parents and family?"

"Of course." Soul rose into a sitting position in the bed. "I'll fill you in on everything, but we need to get up and start to get ready."

"Okay."

Soul offered his hand and she accepted. He heaved her up into a sitting position. Hand in hand they went inside of the bathroom connected to the master bedroom and stepped into the shower. It was a far more different experience than sharing a shower at home. At home it was cram and there were always some parts that were left outside to freeze. Now when they showered in a shower with separate shower heads, they could still remain close, but enjoy the heat from the warm water. It was different not having to be squeezed together, skin on skin in order to keep the heat. She missed the skin contact, but now it allowed her to actually take him in as he showered. It wasn't anything particularly erotic about it. It was simply naked Soul taking a naked shower, but his body still caught her attention.

During the shower, Soul was busy telling her about his family.

His family was powerful. She hadn't imagined just how powerful they were. All of them owned multiple buildings and together as the Evans family they were practically the landlords of New York City. For generations they had owned real estate and nothing seemed to bring them down. They were rich and their riches weren't going anywhere, instead as the family expanded, so did their reach and their money generated. Compared to what they owned four generations ago, they had more than tripled their wealth.

Simply listening to Soul's family history as he shampooed her hair made her heart bang against her ribcage.

His brother Wes who she had met was the perfect image of a rich man. She already knew Wes lived a comfortable life the moment she had laid her eyes on him. Dressed in a well costumed tailored suit of the finest fabric she hadn't seen in any stores and wearing a watch she could only guess was even more expensive and rare than a Rolex. He was all manners and a picture perfect gentleman. Wes worked as a lawyer and a darn good lawyer he was. Maka had no clue how he managed to be the CEO and investor in various companies and balance a career as a lawyer.

Wes's wife, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa was no different from Wes. Incredibly beautiful and dressed to impress just like her husband. Some would say she was silent and shy, but Maka had quickly learned she was a woman of few words. She only spoke when needed and always cautious with her words and incredibly polite. Nobody could find a fault in her. It almost seemed ironic once she learned she was broker selling luxurious apartments. Wes has described her as sharp, clever and persuasive. There was no apartment she couldn't sell and Wes had gotten a taste of it when he was buying a new apartment. Only ten minutes was what it took for him to buy the apartment and make an impression he couldn't forget. Tsubaki's daring personality had him returning and investing in more real estate than he was interested in just to see her again. It didn't take long for Tsubaki to figure out what really interested Wes and she had offered him to dine with her later that evening.

When Wes and Tsubaki had visited her and Soul for the first time they had been the power couple she had dreamed about and seen in magazines. Both were wealthy in their own right and both were independent with their own strengths. They were equals. Two individuals who had fallen in love with each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Nothing but love bound them together. It was a wonderful concept and that is what Maka had wanted all relationships to be like.

Then Soul moved on to talk about his parents and blood froze to ice as he carefully rinsed her hair.

His mother was an accomplished woman. Wealthy enough to do nothing. It seemed like it was mostly what she did. She owned her own lawyer firm with multiple offices around the country, but she wasn't appearing in any cases anymore. She mostly let her employees run her firms. Instead she spend her days taking care of the family finances and she was dedicated to her various interests. Soul had gushed about her interest in books and the book club she ran with other rich woman. Even though Maka had something in common with Mrs. Evans, she feared books weren't going to help her.

Mr. Evans seemed like a nightmare to do business with. He was the toughest they came in. He was an engineer and owner of a successful tech company and on the side he was engaged in various foundations and charity projects, mostly revolving around mental health. It wasn't about depression or anxiety, but psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia. Not to forget when he was younger he had served their country and even though he was in his fifties, he trained various combat sports. He was tough. Maka didn't know how to view him. He owned an incredible wealth and he was a scary person.

His parents were a power couple of mass destruction and… Maka feared to meet them. Simply knowing they weren't exactly welcoming of Soul's girlfriends and… how _beneath_ she seemed to be in comparison to them. Not a moment had she doubted her worth. She was proud of what she had accomplished and her living conditions. But she was no longer alone. Soul was her partner and she was incredibly happy with their relationship, but getting along with Soul's family was an area they hadn't explored yet. It was important they could get along and she wished for them to approve of her.

Once he started to massage the conditioner into her hair, he sensed the tense jaw and shoulders.

"Man, you have grown quite tense," Soul spoke as his hands glide down her neck to her shoulders where he started to knead and ease up the tightness. "Relax. My parents could care whatever, but my grandma will adore you."

"She will?"

"She has a heart of gold. She cares of all of our family members and she always makes time for those in need. Actually when my mother introduced my father to my grandma, they actually bonded quite nicely on their shared interest in giving back to the community and helping those in need. They had started a lot of foundations throughout the years."

Maka groaned. "Like I will ever have the money to create a foundation."

"Trust me, she doesn't judge of the amount of money in your wallet. She sees the good in everybody and she has never had a problem with anybody. It is kind of ironic how she has always valued sensations and relationships before material and she is the one who is the most cash savvy in the family. She is the one who has managed to generate the most money in her life time and she is the richest person in our family by far."

"That is kind of ironic."

Soul leaned planted a kiss against her temple as he held her close to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close as the hot water poured down from the ceiling and warmed their bare bodies.

"Yeah. And if there is one person's opinion I care about, it is hers. Most of my life I grew up with her."

Maka raised her eyebrow and she turned around in his arms. "You did?"

He nodded. "Yeah, there was always something about me. My parents always travelled and lived abroad. Wes could live with that, but I couldn't. I was too young, too erratic and different compared to my parents and Wes. So I more often than not lived with my grandma and honestly, I think I was better of that way. I always had more fun with my grandma and she was more open-minded than my parents. It was actually her who encouraged me to enrol at Shibusen University and see how other people lived their lives."

"Sounds like your grandmother is wise."

"She is." Soul started to nibble on the sensitive flesh of her neck. "And I'm lucky. If she hadn't suggested it to me and convinced my parents, I would've never met you."

"I guess I will have to thank her for bringing you into my life."

"Nah, more like she is the one to thank you." He pulled away and he cupped her cheek. His thumb feathered over her flushed cheek. "You have made me happier than no one has and that's something no one can give me than you."

A soft smile spread on her lips and she leaned forward, planting an affectionate kiss.

They finished their shared shower and started getting dressed. Once she opened her suitcase and found the black pants and red blouse she had planned to wear on Christmas day, a sense of uneasiness grew in her gut. If she had known she was practically going to attend Christmas in company of royalties, she would've packed something completely different. There was no going back, reluctantly she got dressed in her clothes.

Maka found herself in the walk-in closet with her makeup bag. She did her makeup as Soul went inside, standing behind her as he applied hair gel to become the perfect balance between messy and tidy. A smile spread on her face when she noticed he wore the shirt she bought to him and the black tie her father had gifted him.

"You know you don't have to wear that today."

"But I want to. It's the colours of Christmas, _and_ we're matching."

There was never a moment she wasn't amazed at his willingness to show them off. She was always aware Soul had a softer side he didn't show many people. After they had started dating she had really been acquainted with the gooey, soft core of his and all the ways he showed her how much he loved, appreciated and wanted to show off their status. Soul was always ready to match her outfit to show they were an item. And she certainly didn't mind.

Happiness tingled on her lips as he grinned wide, showing off his teeth in the reflection of the mirror.

"As you wish." She turned around to face him, running her hand over his new black tie and tightening it a little before she adjusted his collar. "You do look quite handsome."

He chuckled. "Quite handsome, eh?"

"Yes. Quite."

"Well, you look more than quite beautiful yourself." He brushed a lock behind her ear and cupped her cheek. "Are you nervous?"

She inhaled and she nodded. "I was nervous before the trip, but knowing your family is practically royalty, I'm really nervous."

Soul snorted. "Don't be. My family is far from perfect. I don't care what my family thinks of you, all I care about is you meeting my grandma, and I can guarantee she will absolutely adore you."

A smile spread on her face and she nuzzled into his touch. "Will she?"

"Without a doubt. In fact, I think she might've actually told me to find a cute blonde named Maka Albarn."

Maka huffed and shoved his hands away from his face to the sound of Soul snickering. "When I finally started getting relaxed, of course you had to open your mouth and make a joke."

"But it's true. She wanted me to find a cute and nice girl, just like you. She might've as well said your name."

She blew a raspberry. "Like I'm the only nice and cute girl out there."

"You're _my_ kind of nice and cute. That's completely different."

The corner of her mouth twitched as she turned her attention back to the mirror, she pulled up her lipstick from her makeup bag and applied it to her lips. In the reflection of the mirror, she caught Soul turning on his foot and exited the walk-in closet. She continued to apply her makeup and when she ran the mascara wand through her eyelashes, Soul returned in the walk-in closet.

"You're missing something," he pointed out and placed the jewellery box on the vanity.

It was the same black box containing the necklace Soul had gifted her the day before. He opened the box and revealed the gorgeous jewellery resting on the velvet fabric. Soul picked up the necklace and it sparkling with its cool glory as Soul stepped behind her, brushing her hair away. The cold metal rested on her warm skin and he locked the necklace. The cubic zirconia stone rested elegantly right under her collarbones and sparked brighter than any of her other necklaces.

"It looks even better on you," he said, letting her hair pool once again around her shoulders as his hand settled on her biceps. His red eyes staring back at her in the reflection of the mirror.

Gently she touched the stone around her neck and smiled softly toward him. "Thank you."

"Are you ready to head out?"

She took a breath of courage and she nodded. "Yeah."

Her heart picked up its pace once they arrived in their private elevator. Soul's hand found hers, entwining their fingers' together and giving a reassuring squeeze. No words were needed. He was aware of her nervousness and she was completely reassured he would be by her side every step of the way. Exactly how she had remained by his during her father's "greeting" to him.

They arrived down at the entrance floor and she was surprised someone was waiting for them. A figure seated in one of the luxurious couches in the launch area casted a glance in their direction and as soon as his eyes lay upon Soul, he jumped up from his seat and started strolling toward them. A wide smile grew on Soul's face and he greeted the man happily.

"Carl, it has been a long time," Soul said as he offered his hand which the man named Carl grabbed.

Maka didn't know what she had expected. Normally when Soul greeted his friends back in Death City, he would grab their hand and do one of those bro hugs, but Soul didn't do it with him. Instead it was as if they were shaking hands, but their hands were angled the other way around and he didn't bring Carl into a hug. Overall, the gesture was relaxed but at the same time upheld the sense of manner.

"It has been indeed. I expected you would visit more often than you did," Carl spoke with a sophisticated air and his eyes found hers. "But I now see why."

Soul grinned wide and he released his hand from hers in favour of wrapping his arm around her waist. "Maka, this is Carl. He's my family's assistant and he takes care of the estate and staff."

Carl appeared to be in his fifties with his neatly combed hair with grey strands and wrinkles by his eyes. His green eyes shone of joy which matched the wide pleased smile of his. "Miss Maka Albarn. I've heard wonderful things of you and it truly is a delight to _finally_ meet you at last."

Carl offered his hand and she grabbed it. Strong and firm hand shake. "It's nice to meet you and I'm afraid I know very little about you."

His eyes fluttered with confusion before he turned to Soul. "You haven't told her about me?"

"The only people she knew from my family was Wes and Tsubaki and that was because they came to our home unannounced. I told her about the rest of my family barely twenty-four hours ago."

If he was confused before, he was baffled by the news. "Is it true?" he asked her.

Maka nodded whole-heartedly. "Oh yes. It was a huge bomb he dropped on me."

Carl's shoulders sagged and he nodded. "Well, I'm more than happy to tell you all about the embarrassing stories of Soul when he was young, and believe me, there was a lot."

Soul tsked and shook his head with a smirk. "And I'll tell her of all the antics you took part in along my side."

"Perhaps I will be quiet about a few of them."

Carl and Soul chuckled before Carl gestured with his whole arm toward the doors of the hotel, suggesting it was time to depart. Carl took the lead and Maka simply followed with Soul by her side. Right outside in front of the entrance, a very luxurious black car stood parked, shining bright from the car wash and wax it must've gotten. Normally the cars would've been parked further away, certainly not taking up a spot right in front of the entrance for an unseen amount of time Carl had to have waited for them. If this had happened to them in Death City, they would surely have received a scolding from the manager as soon as they stopped the engine. With money came certain privileges and accommodations.

The lights on the car flashed and clicked loudly when Carl unlocked it. He opened up the backseat door and gestured for her to enter. Soul released her hand as she slid inside, holding his hand against the frame. As she slid further inside of the car, making room for Soul, the car door was slammed shut.

Carl moved in front of the car door, preventing a confused Soul from grabbing the car handle. "What on earth were you thinking not preparing her?"

Soul raised his eyebrow. "I told her a little—"

"Both you and I know with that little information isn't going to do much. She's going to be eaten alive by Mrs. Evans."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Relax. Maka is smart, kind and well-liked by everyone. It's hard to find fault in her."

Carl snorted. "Are you kidding me? She's _normal_."

"My dad was _'normal'_ when my mom met him."

"Yes but Mrs. and Mr. Evans met at the country's top university. You met at an average university."

"But she is smart and if she wanted to, she could've gone to a better school," Soul sighed and he gestured toward the car door. "Can we just go? She will be fine and she will dazzle with her charms."

Carl responded by opening the car door and stepping aside, holding it open for him. "Step inside, sir."

Soul slid into the car and Maka raised her eyebrow questioningly at Soul, who returned with a gentle smile and took her hand; reassuring her everything was alright.

Carl closed the door and got behind the wheel. They were on their way to Soul's parents' home. Maka didn't know what she had expected. His family was beyond the definition of wealth, how did families with that amount of people live like? Perhaps within NYC's largest penthouse apartment? They might even own the whole building and every apartment unit was a separate entertainment area. The car drive was longer than she had anticipated. She had expected where they stayed to be close to their home, but the further away Carl drove, she was starting to question why they were staying so far away from his family.

The buildings were getting fancier and fancier until the buildings were turned to trees and bushes caged by a black and gold fence. The only green she had heard of in New York City was Central Park, had they driven that far they had left the city?

Carl brought a remote up and the gate at the end of the road, which had a _guard_ smiling wide toward them and waving toward them. Soul let out an amused laughter and even though the guard wouldn't see anything because of the tinted window, Soul waved back, explaining he had worked for years for his family. They drove up through a beautiful driveway and on top of the hill was a huge whit mansion with beautiful bushes and tasteful trees.

Soul wrapped his arm around Maka's shoulders and gently nudged her chin closed from gawking at the grand mansion.

"This mansion has been passed down for generations. The Evans family has made sure to keep the surroundings calm and quiet and keep others from building buildings too close."

"But… but _how?_ How on earth does your family own a gigantic mansion _and_ lands in _New York City!_"

"My past relatives had a hunch this city would boom, so they struck while the iron was hot and bought cheap land outside of the city, practically for pennies really, and now my family practically have buyers throwing money at my family in hopes of buying of the smallest portion of land."

Maka could barely speak as the mansion grew larger and larger. It was simply unbelievable and too hard to comprehend that the loving and caring Soul she had known was directly connected to _this_ lifestyle. The man who always enjoyed to price check toiletries in the store and take his time and browse the internet to find the best deal.

The car came to a halt and by the entrance, a fine-cladded servant in a black suit and white glows strolled up to their car and opened the car doors. Soul stepped out of the car and offered his hand. Maka grasped it and stepped outside. Her gaze moved up to the humongous and powerful building in front of her which surely had to contain hundreds of rooms.

Soul gently tugged at her hand and she snapped out of her admiration toward the building. "We better head inside before my whole family arrives outside."

Maka nodded as they climbed up the short stairway up to the two meter high door. The two servants opened the door for them and she was overwhelmed by the inside. The walls were _tall_, at least six meters and in front of her was a stairway up leading to two wings. The floor was made out of marble and well-polished. The doors closed behind of them and one of the servants offered to grab her coat. Soul helped her slid out of her coat and he handed it to one of the servants after he gave his. His hands ran over her biceps and his lips brushed her ear.

"Relax, everything will be fine."

Maka let out a breath she didn't know she had hold in.

"Soul you bastard, you have finally arrived!" Wes's voice boomed as he entered the entrance in his dashing grey suit with open arms with Tsubaki not far behind him. "I've missed you!"

Soul grinned wide as he rounded her and brought Wes into a hug. "We talked on the phone last week."

"Still too long, brother." He pulled away and his attention shifted and he smiled warmly toward her. "Maka, it's wonderful you could join us this year."

"It's a pleasure to see you again." She gave a hug while Soul greeted Tsubaki with an embrace.

Wes pulled away and he glanced at Maka. "You look wonderful. It's a beautiful necklace you've got there."

"Thank you, it's a gift from Soul."

"Yes it is indeed," Wes spoke and his normally kind smile turned playful as his eyes lingered on the necklace.

"Maka," Tsubaki intercepted with open arms. "I've looked forward meeting you again." She enveloped her into her warm embrace and her vague sweet and rosy perfume tickled her nose.

"Me too. It was a while since you visited us."

"Yes and I would love to show you where Wes and I live. I have a wide arrange of teas I would love for you to try."

"I hope you've no plans of occupying her time for too long," Soul snaked his arm around Maka's waist. "I've my own schedule for us to attend to."

Maka elbowed Soul in the rib and Wes let out a short laugh as Soul exhaled loudly. She offered Tsubaki a polite smile. "We would love to."

"Let's not stand around here, our family and relatives have looked forward to meeting you, especially grandma," Wes said and gestured toward the hallway.

Soul lead her in the direction, arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close to his side; soothing her with his body and warmth.

Thoughts had rushed through her head how meeting his family would be like. The more Soul told her about his family, she build a picture of a sophisticated small and close-knitted family, when she entered the room, it wasn't what she had expected.

There were more people than she had imagined. Twenty to twenty-five people were present, all dressed just as fine as Wes and Tsubaki. The air grew denser with the aura of authority, elegance and sophisticate from the women and men present. Intellectually she knew Soul was related to them by blood, but simply gazing at them and comparing the Soul she knew and loved, they were completely different.

A loud excited glee escaped a woman who had been engaged in a conversation. Her eyes lit up and the terrifying authority seemed to reduce to the size of a peanut as she stormed toward them.

"Soul! It has been too long!" The woman said with joy as she enveloped him in her arms, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"It's good to see you too," Soul pulled away and he gestured toward Maka. "Aunt, I want you to meet my girlfriend Maka. Maka, this is my aunt Jeanette."

The joy that had enveloped her reduced as soon as she set her blue eyes upon her. Her red lips formed an O as she felt herself being judged. "Ah, so this is the lady."

"It's nice to meet you." Maka spoke and she held her hand out toward her. Jeanette's eyes darted to her hand and she shook her hand after a paus.

"Welcome to the Evans family." She briefly spoke as she turned on her heel and returned to her company.

A knot formed in her throat. This day would prove to me a long day if this was how she would be treated.

Soul had sensed her uneasiness and quickly planted a kiss on her temple. "Aunt Jeanette can be a dick. Don't let her bother you."

She wanted to take his words to heart, but this was his family. She wanted to so badly blend in with them and become a part just like Soul had become a part of her family. As Soul led her from group of relatives chatting away, she was met by the same cold demeanour just like his aunt Jeanette. They would be talking and as Soul introduced her, she felt the walls close and shut her out. There would be the minimum amount of politeness, a simple act of curtsey, before they would ask Soul questions and ignore her or return to their conversation.

It made it clearer she wasn't welcome in the family. Not now not ever.

"There! There's my grandma," Soul said excitedly and her eyes laid upon an elderly lady sitting on a couch beside an old man with blond hair and just as blue eyes as Wes. The elderly woman hade beautiful short hair shaped in curls, laugh wrinkles and piercing blue eyes. Soul's grandma found Soul and Maka witnessed a moment of pure joy breaking out on her face as she gazed upon him.

And equally wide smile grew on Soul as he pulled Maka toward her as Soul's grandma tried to stand up with the help of her cane.

"Oh no, don't get up," Soul protested.

"I've still some strength in my old body," she commented as she got up on her feet. "You've been away for too long, my beloved Soul." Her hand shook slightly as she cupped Soul's cheek. Soul grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Grandma, there is someone I want you to meet." Soul pulled away slightly in order to gently pull Maka closer. "This is my girlfriend Maka I've told you about."

She let out a tiny squeak of joy as she supported herself on Soul to gently drag her feet closer to Maka. "What a sight! I've wanted to meet you Maka Albarn for so long! You're a lot more beautiful than the photos he showed."

For the first time, she was met with kindness and love. She barely knew what to say as the tiny elderly woman's knees shook and Soul gently helped her to sit back down in her seat.

"Let me take a closer look at you." Soul's grandma gently help her shaking hand out as Soul gestured her to take the seat next to her, and the man scooted over to make room. She slid down on the seat and gently Soul's grandma grabbed her skin, looking at her face from every angle. "You've chosen well, my beloved Soul. You'll have beautiful babies."

Maka's cheeks grew rosy as Soul's grandma's hand released her chin.

"There's still some years before we're ready for that."

"Haven't I taught you anything? Once you have a great catch like Maka, you need to court her and marry her. A beautiful, smart and well-mannered woman like her has to get other suitors trying to attract her attention."

Maka caught a blush on his cheeks as he turned his head away. "We'll get married when the time comes."

"Soul," his grandma spoke with a vulnerable tone as she stared at Soul standing beside her seat, a loaded gaze that communicated a message she couldn't quite decipher.

Soul placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry."

"Soul." Maka looked over the couch's back and there stood a slim an elegant woman with gorgeous volume in her blonde curly hair. The voice was familiar. "Finally you've arrived."

The woman's heels clicked against the floor as she strolled over to him and enveloped her in her arms, Soul returned the hug. "Mother, I want you to meet Maka." Soul gestured toward Maka. "Maka this is my mother Kathrine Evans and my father Alistair Evans is seated beside you."

She felt almost embarrassed she hadn't introduced herself to him. Alistair sat relaxed beside her on the couch and seemingly didn't bother. He held his hand out toward her, seemingly reading her mind. "I couldn't interrupt the moment you two had."

Maka shook his hands, strong fingers and a firm grip.

Kathrine on the other hand, she stayed put and made to attempts at introducing herself. "So, you're Maka Albarn, the girl my son has been spending time with."

"Yes, that's me." The tension was loaded as Kathrine Evans scanned her. "It's a beautiful place you've here."

"It must be different from your own home," Alistair said.

"More than you can imagine."

"Trust me, I can." He gestured with his left hand to the white shiny ring on his finger. "I didn't live like this my whole life."

"Tell me more about your family dear," Soul's grandma spoke.

"Oh, my family is far from being as large as yours." She commented shyly. "It's just me and my father."

"Why isn't your mother in the picture?" Kathrine spoke up for the first time.

"My mother passed away when I was young and my father was an only child so… it's just been my father and I for the longest time."

"And you managed to turn out as you did. What a success story." Kathrine spoke as she turned on her heel and went away.

Soul's grandma gently collected her hand into hers and softly squeezed them. "Ignore my daughter. She's on her guard toward new people nearing her family. She will come around."

They chatted some more but before they knew it, it was time for lunch and Soul had helped his grandma collect her walker and cautiously went beside her. Maka followed and was let inside of the dining area where the tables were shaped into a U. The table were decorated with pinecones and fir twigs. Red silk napkins were rolled and a silver ring held them together and on the plates laid names.

Soul didn't need to look at the names, he guided his grandma to the middle seat on the bottom of the U, having a perfect view of all the relatives seated. Next to her were Kathrine and Alistair with Wes and Tsubaki seated by the edge with Soul on the other.

Her name was nowhere to be seen near Soul.

Maka started to head around the table in search of her name. Nervousness started to form in her belly as further away she went from Soul, her name wasn't there, until she found it; Soul's friend it said, at the furthest away from Soul she could get. The only person seated beside her was Soul's aunt Jeanette.

Maka bit her lip as she glanced up from the neatly folded paper and her eyes found Soul. His lips were a line and his jaw was tight simply looking at her. He excused himself from his grandma's side and he went over to her, pushing through his relatives and he was by her side. His eyes blazed as his eyes lay upon the name tag, he grabbed the paper and it crinkled in his hand.

"It's fine," she exhaled.

"No it's not. You're sitting beside me."

She shook her head gently. "I don't want to cause any trouble. Everybody is already on edge because of me."

"This isn't okay. For so many years my family has saved space for Wes and mine partners, you're my partner, you should sit beside me." Soul grabbed her hand and gently tugged her forward.

"Soul," Kathrine Evans called from her seat beside her mother, waving at him. "Come and sit down. The waiters will come with the food soon."

Maka untangled her hand from his and she offered him a brave smile. "Go. It's just a meal. Besides, it gives me an opportunity to get to know your aunt more."

His eyebrows furrowed and he gazed at her. "One word and I will come and sit beside you."

Soul returned to his seat after kissing her cheek gently. Maka took her seat beside Jeanette and the waiters and waitresses arrived with hotplates and drinks. The smell tickled her nose as she removed the napkin and placed it on her lap.

She had a feeling it would be a looong meal.

…

From across the table, Soul's heart tugged with hurt seeing his aunt Jeanette blatantly ignoring Maka and the company around her made sure to maintain their attention away from her. Not a single person was opening up and talking to her. He knew all too well of the feeling as he had worked incredibly hard to ear Spirit's approval.

"Relax," Kathrine spoke as she cut in her meat and scooped some chocolate sauce up along with a pomegranate seed. "You should eat your meal before it gets cold."

"I know you're the one who placed Maka furthest away from me beside Aunt Jeanette." Soul stabbed the fork in the meat. "Aunt Jeanette dislikes any outsider, she's not even that found of our family. Why did you place her beside her?"

Kathrine scoffed. "Honestly, you speak so ill of my sister. I'm sure she can keep your friend company."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Friend? Are you serious? You know Maka is my girlfriend and she's not going anywhere. I love her and I'm planning on spending the rest of my life with her."

"Feelings can change," she simply spoke. "I know your ex-girlfriend has recently become single and she's still interested in you."

Soul huffed incredulously. "I can't believe you. You didn't even like her and you're pushing her on me." Soul grabbed his mother's wrist. "Tell me, what is so horrible you want her gone?"

"She's not like us. She won't be able to handle all the responsibilities. She wouldn't be able to handle the burden the Evans name holds."

"Dad managed."

"Your father is different."

"So is Maka."

"You're blinded." She turned fully toward him. "We both know you're your grandma's favourite grandson, we both know she will let you inherit her most precious belongings, and her grand home. We may be managing it now, but we both know it will be _you_ who will inherit it. Maka would never be able to support you and the responsibilities you will carry."

"Maka and I are partners. We support each other. We will manage."

Kathrine snorted as she faced away from her son. "A woman like her only cares about herself and her career. You'll both be worn out and miserable and it will lead to divorce. Evanses don't divorce."

"That's mine and Maka's business."

"You're my son. Everything about you concerns me."

Soul slammed his utensils down on the table. "Butt out. It's my relationship. You're going to respect her and open your arms up to her."

"I'm not going to do that."

Soul had enough. The chair shrieked as it was pushed backwards. His family's eyes were on her and Maka stared at him with wide eyes. "Mother, father, grandma, Wes and Tsubaki come with me to the living room."

"Everybody continue with your meal, we'll be back before you know it."

Soul tried to swallow his rage at his mother to assure Maka he had everything under control, but he knew she had already caught on his anger. His brother helped his grandma collect her walker and they headed to the living room down a hallway, out of hearing from the dining hall.

"What is weighting your heart, my love," his grandma spoke as Wes helped her sit down in her favourite armchair.

Without beating around the bushes, he retried the ring box from his pocket and opened it up before he placed it on the table. Immediately he was met by a glee from Tsubaki and Wes shoot up from his seat and congratulated his brother on taking the step.

"You can't be serious?" His mother spoke.

"As serious as I am standing before you all. I'm going to marry her."

"Oh Soul," his grandma sobbed with joy as her shaky hand covered her mouth. "I thought I wouldn't have the time to witness this. I'm so happy for you two."

"Maka has already been through enough. Our relatives have been horrible to her and she's feeling dejected. She's not going anywhere and she will be a part of our family. It's time people start treating her better."

Grandma closed her eyes, knowing too well whose part of the family who were ignoring Maka.

"You're still young. You still have time to find someone else."

"I don't want anyone else."

"Kathrine," his grandma said sternly. "He loves her. And one look at Maka and you can tell she loves him too. They adore each other and that's good enough for me to give you my heart consent and well-wishes."

His heart grew warm with affection for his grandma and he gently squeezed her shoulder.

"For the love of…" Kathrine muttered and she leaned against the back of the couch. "Mother, you out of all people ought to know everybody isn't fit for this life. A woman with Maka's background and aspirations don't belong in our family. You know she will crush Soul."

"She won't!" Soul sneered.

"Everybody stop!" Alistair's voice boomed and his balls tightened. "This isn't a matter of democracy or means of a family intervention. Who Soul loves and wishes to marry has nothing to do with us, especially a healthy woman who adores Soul."

"Yeah, Soul and Maka are good together," Wes agreed. "No one protested when I introduced Tsubaki. How is Maka any different?"

"We both know Tsubaki is far different from Maka. I'm not the only one who opposes Maka and I'm not going to force them to accept a woman they don't approve of!" Her voice rose. "We are the Evans family. We have to maintain a good for the public, we can't have a girl like her in our family. She will tear everything down for us."

"Stop painting her as the devil." Grandma Evans spoke with a warning shaky finger pointed at Kathrine. "You're blowing this out of proportion. Celebrate their love and support them."

Kathrine crossed her arms over her chest. "You all think she is as innocent as she makes herself out to be, but she's not." Kathrine headed toward door out of the living room. "And if you haven't forgotten, we have guests to entertain." The door slammed shut.

Alistair sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. He patted Soul's shoulder. "Ignore her. She will come around eventually."


	3. The Difference in The Way of Life

Chapter 3

_The Difference in The Way of Life_

They returned back and finished their meal. As soon as lunch was over, Soul was by Maka's side. Maka inquired on what had happened earlier but he simply answered family management and brushed the subject off before he had to go in depth what had happened. Soul didn't care about the fact his relatives on his mother's side were off by Maka's presence, he had never been found of his aunts and their family. It was his immediate family who mattered to him. Nobody else.

Soul had decided Maka needed some space from his family and he pulled her aside in favour of giving her a tour of the house. He showed her all from the library she gushed at to the offices where he had studied when he was in school to his secret hiding spot underneath the stairway where his grandma and grandpa had helped him decorate it with mattresses, pillows and fabric to create a cosy nook for him to hide away in when it was time for family events and other charity events his family could throw.

He saved the best for last, he went up the stairs and to the upper floor and opened the door to his childhood room.

Maka's jaw dropped at how big his room was. In his room was a large and roomy desk, a piano along with a king sized bed. Maka could barely believe when she opened a door and found his walk-in closet fully stocked with suits and dress shirts and large bathroom with a shower and a tub.

Soul had watched her from the comfort of his bed as she had studied his boyhood room. He knew this was a completely different world, people from her socioeconomic could only dream about the privileges he had served to him on a silver platter.

"This is how you lived?" She asked when she had gotten satisfied with exploring his room.

"Yeah, but you know what," he said as he gently patted the space beside him, inviting her to lay down with him. She strolled over and the bed dipped under her weight as she sat down. He snaked his arm around her waist and planted a kiss on her bicep. "I would trade away all of this to live with you. No amount of space or designer clothes or fancy watches are worth it. I have never been as happy as I've been being with you."

A smile played on her lips as she allowed Soul to pull her down, to lie down beside him. "I know half of my family are complete douchebags toward you, and we won't have to see them that often and my mother will warm up to you eventually."

The smile stopped and she frowned. "Soul," she whispered his name. "It was bad enough with my father when he treated you the way he did, what if they won't come around and will keep freezing me out?"

"_You_ are the most important person in my life. They will learn to accept it because I'm not going to back down to their demands. Trust me, they will turn over a new leaf and even Aunt Jeanette will open herself up to you."

Maka groaned and she turned on her back, covering her eyes with her wrist. "I don't want to make your family uncomfortable. I don't want to put you in a position where you will have to choose between your family and me. That's the least I want and it's just…" her voice faltered. "I'm _not_ like them."

"No, you're not. You're better than them. They think money is the most important thing in life, but it's not. Love is. You've more love and passion and drive than any of them in your pinkie finger." He placed his hand on her arm, gently massaging the exposed smooth skin on her inner wrist. "You've worked hard for everything in your life and you've earned it. My family has practically been served everything on a silver platter. You're ten times better in every way than them and they know it."

Maka bit her lower lip. "I'm not." She allowed him to pull her arm of her eyes and he was surprised of the fear in her eyes. "I'm not better than anyone and… I _know_ how rich people can get. What if they will do something drastic to separate us? I-I don't want that."

"Then my mother will have to deal with me," he spoke effortlessly as he entwined their fingers together. "I'm on your side. What she does to you she will do to me and she knows it. She wouldn't dare to do anything to hurt you." The words were spoken with ease, but in his heart, he knew his mother wouldn't hesitate to do something in order to get what she wanted. There was no use in telling her it. Maka was already upset and there was no point in upsetting her further than she already was. He would keep an eye on his mother and make sure she stayed put.

After they had stayed in his room for some while longer and enjoy themselves, trying to lift up the mood before it was time to re-join his family again and expose Maka to more stress and isolation.

Soul wasn't quite ready to go back, but Wes knocked on the door and announced it was time to head back down to take the annual family photo and open the Christmas presents. A knot in his stomach grew simply at the thought of the annual Christmas photograph. He had a feeling his mother had something up her sleeves just like she had manipulated the seating chart.

As they headed down the stairs to the ground floor, Maka took his hand and held it tightly. "So what's up with the family photography?"

"Tradition. After we've opened up our gifts, we always take a picture so we can look back and remember it. And my mother loves putting the pictures up on the wall in the east wing."

They re-joined his family who had already taken a seat in the large living room. Gifts were stacked as a Christmas tree and to his dismay, his mother hadn't stopped her antics to show Maka wasn't welcome. Let was only an armchair, but he had no plans of backing down. His jaw tightened and he led Maka toward the armchair and he gestured for her to take a seat. She hesitated before she sat down on the soft leather as she gazed at him.

"Where will you sit?" she asked.

He waved it away, knowing his mother was watching him from the couch. "You sit. I'm feeling like standing up." He flashed her a smirk. "Or I could take a seat on your lap."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she playfully slapped his arm.

"Carl," Alistair spoke to the man who had been hovering nearby. "Can you place get my son a seat."

"No don't." Soul stopped the man, he took a seat on the armrest and he wrapped his arm around Maka as support. "I'll just sit here."

"No you're not! I'm not allowing you to break the arm rest. It's made of Italian leather!" His mother sneered.

"Relax, you've enough money to buy the factory where it's produced."

His mom went silent and her red lips formed a tight line.

His relatives and family started exchanging gifts and Soul stayed put by Maka's side. They had already exchanged their gifts with Spirit and Soul had asked Wes to buy gifts for both of them, and he didn't regret it. Wes had gotten a nice bag for his father's sports item and a new limit edition rolex on an auction on his trip to Singapore while his mother had gotten another apartment complex to care for.

Soul had massaged the bridge of his nose when his mother announced she had gotten the building.

"I gave you a budget," Soul commented.

"It went a little bit over, but it was in an area she had looked forward to invest in and Tsubaki made good work in securing it. It was practically a loss if I didn't get it for you."

"You're so not getting a birthday gift."

Wes chuckled from his seat. "I'll send you the amount later. I'm expecting it to be in my account after New Year's."

"You're giving each other buildings as presents?" Maka said astonishingly as she gazed over at the luxury items they were unwrapping and the large envelopes they opened containing either land, holiday homes or buildings to rent out.

"It's practically investments we're giving to each other. You know, generating profit. It's a good gift to give."

"Oh really? How many buildings do you own?"

"Sixteen buildings all located around New York."

"How do you even have time to care for all of them?" He asked incredulously. "I've employed a guy to care for them. You know, take care of the buildings, employees and tenants, making sure everything runs smoothly so I don't have to."

All Maka could think of was rich people really didn't have to do much, they were wealthy in their own right they could simply sit back, relax and let everybody else to the hard work only for the money to support the owner. Soul really wasn't any different than his family.

"If I was more interested in the real estate market, I would do it myself, but I would rather run a music company than to deal with that, besides, the buildings are generating a good amount of profit."

She didn't even know what to answer to it, luckily for her, she didn't have to when Soul's grandma called for them.

"Soul, Maka, I've prepared a gift for you." She held her hand out, the present shaking in her hand.

Soul grinned wide as he got up from his seat and collected the gift, giving her a hug. "You didn't have to."

"Yes I do," she said as he sat on the armchair and handed Maka the gift to open. "It was once your grandfather and mine, but I made some changes to it. I hope you will like it."

Maka unwrapped the small and flat package, fearing it would be a building she would have to be financially responsible for, but it wasn't. In her hand was a golden plate with their names engraved on it, saying "The loving home of Soul Evans and Maka Albarn."

"It's beautiful," she whispered as she stared at the golden yellow, fearing it might be made from solid gold.

"When my husband and I moved in together, he had this plate made for us to always remind us it was our space to fill with our love, security and support for one another. It worked well for us and I hope you will have just as happy and loving relationship as we had."

Soul's arm around her shoulder tightened and he rested his head against hers. "Don't worry. We've plenty of love to live on."

"Didn't you bring any gifts to exchange?" Tsubaki pitched in and asked.

"No, we exchanged our gifts at home with my father." Maka said.

"Yeah, I got this nice shirt from Maka," he puffed out his chest in pride. "She knows exactly what I like."

Maka leaned more into him as her hand came to rest upon the necklace. "And Soul gave me the necklace."

"It had to cost a fortune," Wes commented.

"No, we've a budget we have to stick to," Maka spoke.

"Wes," Soul warned.

"If that shirt isn't made out of some sort of rare silk by a well-known designer, his gift surpassed the budget by waaaaaay more."

Maka's hand dropped from the necklace as she came to stare at Soul. "You said it was fake."

"I may have gone over the budget a little," Soul confessed.

"Soul," she huffed as she buried her face in her hand.

"I gave it to you so you could wear it to meet my family, you know, to dress up a little. The necklace wasn't that expensive even, my family knows the guy who runs the jewellery chain and I practically made money of it."

Maka held her hand up to silence Soul. "I don't want to hear any of this now. We'll take this later."

Soul opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it and let it slide.

When everybody had opened their gifts and the helpers had made the arrangements for the photo, everybody started to take their places and just as Soul had expected, the usual space that was meant for his partner had been removed. It had been tradition for the singles in their family to leave a space for the future partner and now his mother had broken the tradition in order to keep Maka out of the photo.

But he was ready to make a statement of his own.

"Come Soul and let us take the picture," His mother spoke from her spot behind his grandma seated in her large armchair with her hands supporting on her cane.

Soul only glanced at his usual seat beside his grandma. "It's time for Maka and I to return back to the hotel. We've a reservation to attend to."

"Yes and you can attend to it after the picture."

He shook his head, shooting his mother a serious gaze. "We're not."

"Just take the picture," Maka breathed dejectedly. "Just take it and then we'll go."

"I'm not doing it if you're not in it."

"It's fine," she assured. "Just take it."

Soul turned back toward his family where his grandma pat the seat next to her. His heart told him to turn away with Maka, but his grandma…

"I hope you'll enjoy yourselves." Soul simply spoke and he wrapped his arm around Maka. "We'll see you later." Before he could regret his choice, he turned away with Maka by his side, leaving his family and putting an end to the family celebration.

…

Soul borrowed one of the many cars their family owned and drove back to the hotel in silence, Maka staring out of the window without breathing a word. It wasn't until they reached their hotel room when she took of the necklace and put it back in the box it had come with.

"You know you're more like them than I originally thought," she spoke with her back still turned toward him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're completely different from the guy I met in university," she huffed. "I should've known you were spoiled rotten when you asked me to teach you how to wash your clothes."

"If there's something bothering you, spit it out."

"The way you talk of stuff, the way your family thinks and acts, I think you're more alike than you've given yourself out to be."

"I'm nothing like Aunt Jeanette or my mom if that's what you're implying on."

She spun around and she gazed at him with hurt. "Then tell me why you lied to me about the necklace."

"Because I wanted to give you a nice necklace you could wear when meeting my family and I knew you wouldn't take well to receiving a gift over the budget."

Maka sighed heavily and she buried her face in her hand. "There you go again. With all the lies and deceits." Her hand balled and she lowered her hand. "Soul, you've lied to me about _a huge_ part of your life! In university, you made all of us believe you were a struggling student when in fact you never had to worry about money or how a failed exam would affect your economy. You lied about working at the company when you're the god damned owner of it!"

"Because I didn't want to involve money in all of this. I loved how you saw me for who I am, not many people, especially women, have looked at me the way you do." He shrugged his shoulders slightly irritated as he threw his arms out. "It's nice okay. Is it too much to ask for? You saw me and I wanted to keep it that way, okay? I don't want you to see me as I am now."

"And what is that?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"The money!" he exclaimed. "Be honest, the gift only made you uncomfortable because it cost a lot. You're uncomfortable because of the money. You're growing uncomfortable in our relationship because I have money."

Maka opened her mouth incredulously as she stared at him. "It's not the money, it's the fact you lied about yourself to me. It's like I don't even know you anymore!"

"But you do," he spoke as he stepped closer to him. "I'm still the same person," he whispered. "I'm no different than I was a week ago. I'm still me."

Maka groaned and she leaned her forehead against his chest. "But it doesn't feel like it. The way you behaved and talked today, it just… it felt different."

"It's just because I was with my family. You know you speak differently when you're around your dad." He settled his arms on her hips and gently kissed the top of her head. "I don't want to fight with you. I don't want anything to change between us because my money and resources. It doesn't change me one bit. All it is is money and resources, nothing else."

"You don't understand. For someone like me who grew up with a single father, money was short and it was a stress on both of us, we never had that luxury of economic stability."

"And that sucks, I know it does."

"That's the thing, you don't know. If you haven't experienced it you can never understand it." She gently pulled away from him in favour of looking into his eyes. "You could play pretend as much as you wanted at university, pretend to be stressed about exams and how it would affect your outcomes. You had social connections and money to lean back on, we had nothing."

"Then what is it you want me to say? I can't change the past."

"All I want is for you to acknowledge we're different, but here we are, still in love with each other with family troubles from both side."

A smile spread on his face as he cupped her face and brought her face closer to him. "We do have different backgrounds, but in this relationship we are the same."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly.


	4. The Choice between Loves

Chapter 4

_The Choice between Loves_

Morning came and Soul had other plans than to spend with his family. They had stayed in bed and enjoyed themselves, taking the time they needed to get ready. They took a warm bubble bath and ate a large delicious breakfast at the hotel's buffet. Once they were finished, it was already passed lunch and it was time to head out.

"Where are we going?" Maka had asked as they headed through the underground garage.

"You'll see."

"Come on, don't you think I've had enough of surprises in the last 48 hours."

"One more won't kill you." He clicked on the remote to the car and its lights flashed. Soul went around to the passenger side and opened the door for her.

She smiled wide toward him and she planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "It better be worth it or else." She slid inside of the car and Soul closed it after her.

Soul rounded the car and stepped inside "Or what?"

"I'll hotbox you."

Soul let out a loud laugh as the car's engine roared to life. "Then I hope you will like it."

They drove off. Soul had entered an address into his cell phone and it gave him directions of how he would drive. It was a perk of Soul driving an automatic car, now he could hold her hand whenever he didn't have to make a sharp turn. Soul drove for about twenty minutes when his phone had announced their arrival. It was a large typical New York City building he swung into and sparked by on the street. No signs revealed what the buildings purpose was.

Maka stepped out of the car and the car flashed. Soul rounded the car and grabbed her hand.

"What is this?"

"It's one of my buildings, this building right here is my favourite."

Her lips shaped into an O as they went closer to the building. "Wow… when you said you owned buildings, this isn't what I had in mind."

"This building was the first one I received and it was from my grandma. The building is well equipped and well-maintained, I barely hear any trouble from this building." They went to the entrance and Maka was surprised to find the building was equipped with an entrance with staff present. Soul simply had to go up to the front desk, the receptionist recognized him right away and handed him a pair of keys.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"To my second home."

Maka raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"After we had graduated from University, I thought I would stay in New York and run a music company here, so I lived here for a while and did business, but I had my eyes on the music company in Death City, and the rest you know. I met you."

A wide smile spread on her face.

How could she forget? She had grown attached to him in university and she hadn't given her feelings a voice until he had returned back to New York City. It wasn't until they ran into each other and grabbed a cup of coffee. He said he would start working in Death City and he was in need of an apartment to rent, and she had offered him to stay with her while he searched for one. Her feelings had flamed within her and she gave them a voice, and the rest was history. Soul never moved out from their apartment.

"I haven't had the heart to rent it out to anyone else, it has been empty since I moved to Death City."

They took the elevator up to the top floor. Penthouse apartment. She hadn't been surprised. Soul had shoved the key into the lock and opened the door.

The apartment had defiantly been decorated by an interior designer. All furniture was a dark grey with steel and black fabric. The room had a nice flow and the walls were replaced with floor to ceiling windows and showed a beautiful view of New York City. Maka went over to the window and admired the view.

"What? No view of Central Park?"

Soul chuckled as he came from behind and wrapped his arms around her. "Then I would be living too close to Wes. It's not the best view in the city, but it is a pretty good view." He planted a kiss against her head.

"It must've been a huge change for you to go from this to our tiny apartment."

"It wasn't that bad. I have more space than I need here, but no one to share it with. I would rather live in our apartment ten out of ten times." His lips trailed down and he kissed her neck. "So many memories there. Like our first kiss in the kitchen, lying awake at night thinking about you and the want of being with you."

Her breath hitched as his lips found her collarbone.

"Or our first time."

"Is this why you brought me here?" she breathed as she pulled away, heart racing in her chest as she spun around, hands resting on his chest. "To make memories here?"

"If you could see yourself leaving Death City."

It wasn't quite the answer she had expected. "W-what? You want to move back to New York City?"

"I know it is a lot to ask for." He grabbed her hand and moved it to his mouth, kissing her knuckle. "But you saw the state my grandma was in."

Yes she had, his grandma had been quivering and she had taken her time to walk with her walker. She had been thin and fragile-looking.

"Soul what is going on?"

"My grandma isn't exactly… healthy." He sighed as he squeezed her hand. "We all thought her shaky hands were because of age, but once she started having trouble walking and coordinating her hands, she went to a doctor." He paused, he swallowed heavily as he mustered courage. "She has Parkinson's disease. Not the usual kind but an extremely rare variety of it. Her brain is slowly withering away and it will take her mobility with it before it will shut her body off."

Tears had started to well in his eyes and he Maka collected him in her arms. "When did you find out?"

"Three weeks ago." He breathed shakily.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear, running her hand into the locks at his nape. "I'm so sorry, Soul."

"It sucks so badly. I can't believe how such a kind and caring woman who has dedicated her life to giving back to society could be diagnosed with such a ruthless disease." The tears spilled over and he buried his face in her neck. "I just want to be close to her for however long she has left."

"I understand."

"I know it's a lot to ask for. I want to live in Death City it's just… fuck, it just felt like she would never die."

"We can return to Death City later. Your grandma means a lot to you and we will be there for her."

"I-I never wanted to ask this from you, living in the same city as my family."

To be frank, after the treatment she had received from his family, she wasn't keen on living within visiting distance from them, especially his mother; but they would make it work. Simply because they lived in the same city didn't mean she had to meet her, she could stay away and let Soul handle his family. Being beside his grandma.

But it would mean she would have to leave her only family behind, leaving her father.

"I promise I will support you in every way I can," he breathed as he pulled away, wiping the tears away from his eyes as he exhaled shakily. "I can give you the money you need to start up your finance consultation firm, or find you an investor."

She was left speechless. It had seemed like a dream far away as she saved up money for her to use to start the firm, sometimes it felt like it would never happen. Just like this, Soul could give her what she needed as quick as that.

"You will?"

"Whatever you want to do, I will get it for you."

"I…" she let out an incredulous sigh. "I don't even know what to say. Thank you?"

"What is mine is yours."

She was rendered speechless, all she could do was collect him in her arms and squeeze him tightly. No words could begin to explain how she felt. The feeling of her dream coming true as simple as that, or the stone forming in her belly that it didn't feel right.

…

After they had left the keys to their future apartment, they had swung by a restaurant and eaten before they would head back to the hotel and freshen up. They arrived at the hotel and took the elevator up to their room, but they didn't expect company.

Kathrine Evans was seated in the armchair with a large envelope on the coffee table.

"Mother what are you doing here?" he asked. "You should've called me saying you were coming."

"I think you're interested in this," she spoke coldly as she tossed the envelope to him.

He caught it and glanced at the brown paper. "What's this about?"

"Your dear Maka isn't as innocent as she has given herself out to be."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Again? When are you going to give up? Maka hasn't hidden anything from me."

"Before you and she arrived, I hired a private investigator to look into her past and she has some skeletons in her closet." Kathrine stood up from her seat and she elegantly went toward them, cold gaze staring at Maka.

Maka's heart beat like a hummingbird's wings as her grip on Soul's hand tightened.

Soul tossed the envelope aside. "I don't care about her past. Whatever she did doesn't mean anything."

"Oh really? You don't care about the fact she lied about her mother being dead when in fact she's still alive."

Maka's eyes fluttered in confusion. "She's alive?"

"Don't act surprised. You knew she was still alive, you were simply too ashamed to tell him. Maka's mother, Kami Albarn, is well-involved in the addiction and dug market, not to forget she finances her drug abuse my selling her body." Kathrine huffed and glared at Maka. "This is the woman you're planning on introducing to the Evans family? A woman raised by a single father and whose baby mommy ran away in favour of drugs? This could ruin our image!"

"Do you think I care what her mother does?" Soul sneer as his arm wrapped around Maka's shoulder and pulled her closer. "Maka didn't lie to me about her mother. I know she didn't. This is just as new to me as it is to her."

"Oh really? Then you might be more interested in her criminal record?"

"Stop!" Maka exclaimed. "Don't?"

"Did I hit a nerve?" Kathrine snorted. "In university Maka manipulated her paperwork, which is student grant fraud, _and_ she took care of her father's taxes, manipulated them to. You know what could happen to us if the government got wind she has committed both student grant fraud _and_ tax fraud? She would ruin the Evans name!"

Soul turned to Maka whose face was entirely pale. He didn't need to ask for him to know the answer.

"I don't care," he said. "We know people. We know lawyers."

"Connections and lawyers wouldn't repair the damage it would do to our reputation!" she roared. "She would destroy you! You're the one your grandmother wants to inherit all her wealth! You're this family's successor! You can't be blinded by a gold digger's manipulations and—"

"Stop! I love her and I won't ever leave her—"

"I can't do this!" Maka exclaimed and ripped herself from Soul. She stormed away from him into their master bedroom and slammed the door shut. In her hurt and her anger, she ripped her suitcase forward and went to the closet, grabbing her clothes and slamming it into her suitcase.

Soul slipped inside of the master bedroom, closing the door behind him. "What are you doing?"

"I can't do this!" Maka exclaimed as tears burned her eyes trickled down her cheeks. "I can't do this anymore!"

"Yes you can!" Soul grabbed her arm. "I don't care what you did or who your mom is! I love you!"

"You don't understand!" She ripped her arm from his grasp. "Your mother is right. I was afraid it would surface. I'm not proud of what I did, but I had to do it to stay in university and keep my family afloat. I knew it was bad and I knew it could ruin me, but I chose to do it." She sobbed as she buried her face into the heels of her hand. "I'm not going to let it hurt you. I-I can't be with you!"

Soul froze as Maka stormed inside of the closet and she pulled her last clothes and slammed it down in her suitcase.

"I don't want to leave you," Soul spoke. He pulled out a box from his pocket and he opened it, revealing the ring and a sob escaped.

She loved him and for so long, she had wanted to marry him. She had fantasised of how he would do it, and it had happened like this.

"I love you and I want you. I don't care of what you've done and I don't care how it will affect us. We are a team and we will take care of it together."

"No!" she screamed. "No, no, no, no!" she sunk down against the door on the walk-in closet. "I don't want this. I-I hate your family and your family hates me. This is not what I want in in-laws. I want to be able to bear my in-laws and I want a real _family!"_ She cried and buried her face in her arms. "I don't want this!"

"Then we will leave," he spoke desperately. He kneeled down in front of her and he grabbed her arms, shaking her gently. "You won't have to see them ever again. I won't be around them. Maka, all I want is you."

"But that's not what I want!" She sobbed as she pulled her arms from his grip. "I want in-laws. I want a bigger family. I-I don't want all of this you're offering." Her hands shook as she stood up on her feet to avoid his tearful gaze and his desperate attempts to regain her in his life. This wasn't what she could give him. It was clear. They didn't have a future together. Their roads had crossed and they had been together for as long as they could, past their expiration date and… they weren't meant for each other.

"I'm leaving. I-I'm leaving. I can't be with you and I don't want all of this." She didn't care about all of her other things, in her hurry, she zipped her bag, made sure she had her wallet, keys and passport and she ran out of the master bedroom, crying loudly as she left the love of her life.


	5. Love Me

Chapter 5

_Love Me_

Soul played with the food on his plate as his family and relatives chatted away with each other.

It was New Year's Eve and the past days he had spent in the hotel, staying away from everyone in his family who had wished to see him. He cried. He cried and cried and cried. He loved Maka to the moon and back and losing her… ripping out his heart would be easier than enduring the pain.

He had tried to get a hold of her. Called her, texted her, calling her father in order to reach her, but he couldn't. He was either met by silence or his calls being rejected. All he wanted was to know she had arrived back in Death City safely… and untangling the mess they had found themselves in. he didn't care about the cases of fraud she had committed, he would make sure they never reached the light of day and stay out of any punishment. He would protect her from the criminal acts and he… whatever Maka chose to do in regards of her mother, he would support her.

All he wanted was her back.

"Chin up," his mother spoke to him. "New year, new me, after all."

Soul slammed his utensil against the surface of the table, glaring at his mother. "You're unbelievable."

"Don't shoot the messenger. All I did was showing you what was within her heart."

His jaw tightened. "Shut up."

"Don't speak to your mother like that."

"I said!" Soul screamed, the room grew quiet and all attention was on him. "Shut up."

"Calm down, my son."

Soul huffed. "You call me your son but who does something like that to their own child?" he sneered. "All you care about is stability and image. You never care about me or Wes!"

"That is not true!"

"Oh really?" Soul pushed himself up from his seat and his chair banged loudly against the floor when it fell. Soul stormed over toward a waitress holding a bottle of wine, grabbing it and hurling it toward the closest wall. Red liquid splashed against the white wall and glass shards rained down. His relatives screamed in shock and covered their faces.

"Watch the paintings!" Kathrine growled.

"That's all you care about! Watch the paintings, watch the armchair, behave Soul, date hat girl Soul, don't cause trouble Soul. You never cared what _I_ wanted. You don't even care about the love of my life _dumping_ me because of you and this _psycho family!"_

"Soul, take a deep breath." Wes spoke calmly from his seat and next to him their grandma wept at the scene unfolding.

"Calm down? Take a deep breath? You're all unbelievable." Soul kicked his mother's empty chair and it flew away before he stormed out.

He didn't care. All he cared about was Maka.

To hell with his family.

…

In Death City Maka was packing her things in moving boxes. She packed down her books as she tried to not gaze at all of Soul's things. One glance at his clothes, his toothbrush or his keyboard would unleash the pain she tried to run away from.

She had left the love of her life. She didn't want to leave him. Not even in the moment she ended their relationship. She loved him and… she still wanted to be with him but… there were too much between them to justify a relationship between them. Soul needed to be in New York with his grandma. He had a family of his own who wanted nothing to do with her because of her choices, but she didn't regret her choices. Not her illegal acts.

But her mother was alive.

She had confronted her father and he had admitted. Her mother hadn't passed away. After giving birth to her, she had received serious tear damage and it had hurt. It had prevented her from nursing and… in order for her to be close to Maka, she had gotten painkillers. Spirit had felt something was wrong when she never stopped taking her pills, always persisting her pain was still present.

She had become addicted.

Spirit tried to get her sober for Maka, but it was to no use. Kami never grew attached to Maka, what was in her mind was drugs. Their marriage ended when the police caught her when she bought drugs and driving under the influence. Spirit knew he had to leave before something badly happened to their child. He filed for a divorce and full-custody. Kami didn't even fight for her.

Her mother had left without even a second thought.

She didn't know what she was going to do with her mother. She had been gone from her life for so long and she was still an addict after all of these years. It was a miracle she was even alive after this long. She wasn't sure if that was what she wanted to see her as. Perhaps it was better to let her stay in the past.

Maka grabbed some of her books and hr eyes came to rest on a picture of her and Soul, wrapped in each other's arms, smiling wide toward the camera. New tears formed in her eyes as her fingers brushed the cool metal frame. "Death, how am I supposed to move on from you?" she whispered to no one in particular as she turned away, packing her things in the moving box.

A loud banging came from the front door and she rose on her feet. It wasn't a knock, it sounded like a hammer against wall.

On her front door!

She stormed toward the front door and she slammed the door open. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!" she sneered but quickly lost her voice when she saw Soul standing behind the door with a hammer and nails in his hands.

"Hey…" he said.

She inhaled loudly and her eyes blinked away the tears welling up in them. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I'm exactly where I should be. By your side."

"Don't!" Maka warned, but it was already to late, tears spilled over and trickled down her cheeks. "Don't do this."

Soul gently grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her apartment and closed the front door enough for her to see the golden plate his grandma had gifted them with hanging crookedly with only one nail on one edge.

"Don't do this, please," she pleaded and she sobbed. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

"You won't." Soul placed the nails and hammer on the floor as he grabbed her hands. "I left them."

"I did." His eyes sought hers, but she avoided his gaze. "I love you. You're my home. My family. If my family don't want to be around such an amazing girl like you, it's their loss."

"What about your grandma? What about New York?"

"You're more important."

"I can't take you away from your grandma."

"And you won't." He cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears. "Grandma and I will stay in touch, but I refuse to let my family hurt the one I love. We will only meet my family who support us on our terms."

Maka couldn't hold back. She snuggled into his hand as she closed the gap between them by leaning her forehead against his chest. "I-I can't. Still. I've done so much bad… I don't want it to hurt you."

"It won't. I have broken my ties with my family. I'll make sure your actions won't come to light. I've plans of selling off all my buildings and cutting ties with New York." He buried his nose into her hair. "I want to take your name. I want to be Soul _Albarn_."

She choked on her sob. Her arms wrapped around his waist and hugged him tightly.

"Marry me. Please marry me. I will do anything for you. If you want all the money and resources gone, I will donate it all away. I will do anything, just, marry me."

"Yes," the word slipped from her mouth before she had a chance to build up her defence and deny him again. She loved him, wanted him. She didn't want to part from him. She wanted to spend all of her life with him. They had gone through a rough stay in New York City and she never wanted to return, and neither did Soul. "I want to. I want you. I-I want you back."

His mouth found hers and he kissed her breath away. His kiss sent healing warmth through her body. Her hand entangled in his hair as her legs found his waist.

Never would they part.

Never would they part again.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading this very short story of mine! It was so short, but it was so incredibly hard to find the time to write this story. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to flesh it out to my liking, but I hope you enjoyed this story nonetheless.


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